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Re: INSTEON Motion Sensor

PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 2019 2:59 pm
by rehafer
I’ve been replacing older motion sensors with Aeotec multisensors. They’re more reliable, provide additional data, and can run on USB power where available. (The less batteries I have to change, the better)



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Re: INSTEON Motion Sensor

PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 2019 3:34 pm
by dduff617
I've had pretty good luck with Monoprice multi sensor, aka "ZooZ", aka "Vision". I got four of them a while back (about $35 or $20/ea if you get a good sale) and initially employed them as temperature/humidity sensors around my house. Good stuff:
  • Small size.
  • Nice appearance.
  • The use Z-wave Plus with good range and modern Z-wave features.
  • Good Indigo support...
    • Easy inclusion
    • full support for all sensor modalities (temp, humidity, motion, light, tamper)
    • battery level reporting
    • full configurability via device settings dialog.
    • Indigo will queue configuration commands to device and send them when it wakes up.

I have the model that takes 2xAAA batteries. I think there is another variant of the same sensor that takes CR123A (lithium) battery and gives longer battery life. I have mine set to pretty aggressive reporting threshold for temperature/humidity changes (high sensitivity) so am not being kind to the batteries, but I'm seeing battery life of about 9 months. If I dialed back off the reporting sensitivity, I could probably double that.

The mounting options are a bit limited, compared to Aeotec multi sensor, for example (for which you can get a recessed ceiling mount, for example). They are small and somewhat simple in appearance.

You can get them from Amazon and Monoprice.

Re: INSTEON Motion Sensor

PostPosted: Thu Oct 24, 2019 8:51 am
by SearchCz
I just replaced an Insteon Motion Sensor with the Insteon Motion Sensor II. I'm reasonably happy with the performance, but I want to configure it to send "on" commands only and cannot fins a way to accomplish that. Documentation says that I can do this with the Insteon+ App via a hub. I have the Hub Pro, which doesn't seem to be compatible with the MSII. I also have Indigo 7.4, but I can't find a configuration option for "on only". I'm wondering if there is maybe a raw command I could send to the MSII via Indigo 7.4 to put the sensor into "on" only mode? Any ideas?

Re: INSTEON Motion Sensor

PostPosted: Thu Oct 24, 2019 3:53 pm
by matt (support)
Try using the Execute Raw INSTEON Command with the following settings:

Command 1 Byte: 0x2E
Command 2 Byte: 0x00
Send extended messages: checked
D1 Byte: 0x00
D2 Byte: 0x06
D3 Byte: 0x20 for ON only, or 0x00 for ON and OFF
D4 Byte: 0x0F
D5 Byte: OFF timeout interval in 10 second increments (0x03 would be 30 seconds). This value is probably unused if you have D3 set to 0x20.
D6 to D14 Bytes: 0x00 (for all of them)

Let me know if that works, and wake the module first by putting into linking mode (unless you have it USB powered).

Re: INSTEON Motion Sensor

PostPosted: Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:35 pm
by SearchCz
Struggling with one of my 2420M Firmware 24 (i2 Engine) motion detectors. I am trying to use it to control the lights in one of my bathrooms. I have an Open/Close sensor that is part of the equation as well. Here is what I have set up so far:

1) When motion is detected, a corresponding event trigger on my Indigo 7.4 server
--- 1a) turns the light
--- 1b) sets a *time remaining* variable to 3 (minutes)
--- 1c) starts the countdown timer (enables the scheduled item that decrements the counter once per minute)

2) If, after this, the door is closed I disable the countdown timer (so that the light remains on as long as the door remains closed)

3) When the door changes from closed to open, I conclude that the person is leaving the bathroom so I turn the light off and disable the countdown.

The problem I'm having, is that I'm unable to tell when this thing has transitioned to the "off" state. ( That is, it seems to now that a minute has passed without motion, but Indigo doesn't seem to have visibility to that ). If I was able to see the OFF in Indigo, that would give me some different options for how I set up my triggers and such. Any idea why I am not seeing that "off" occur? I've tried setting up a trigger based on an Insteon "off" command and based on a state change. No luck.

My jumpers are as follows:

J1: Off (max sensitivity?) - seems to be working as expected
J2: On (disable LED) - seems to be working as expected
J3: Off (NOT night only mode) - seems to be working as expected
J4: Off (NOT "on-only" mode) - sure seems like this sensor is in on only mode, despite the jumper ?
J5: On (allow remote programming)

I've tried factory reset. I've tried *tap the set button, wait 10 seconds, activate motion). I've tried power cycling. I can't seem to get this device to pay attention to my pin 4 setting?

Re: INSTEON Motion Sensor

PostPosted: Fri Apr 03, 2020 9:13 am
by jay (support)
So, you're never seeing an OFF Insteon command coming from the Motion Sensor (easy test - bring it close to your PowerLinc, set it off (ON command), cover it with a towel and wait for an off)? You're right, that jumper would control that behavior. But it might also be a signal issue because that's a broadcast message from the sensor to the PowerLinc, though I would expect it would *sometimes* work. Insteon can be particularly bad at these types of unsolicited broadcast messages which is why we often recommend using Z-Wave sensors instead of Insteon.

Anyway, one thing to try is a factory reset of the MS. I don't recall how exactly to do that on those old motion sensors but I expect some internet searching will turn up the right procedure.

Re: INSTEON Motion Sensor

PostPosted: Fri Apr 03, 2020 9:19 am
by dduff617
reset procedure for MS1::
disconnect battery and wait a few seconds to make sure unit is completely off
depress the set button
reconnect battery, while holding button.
keep holding button for five seconds.
while you are holding button, the LED turns on, then off.
then you can release button and unit should be reset.

Re: INSTEON Motion Sensor

PostPosted: Fri Apr 03, 2020 11:28 am
by SearchCz
jay (support) wrote:
So, you're never seeing an OFF Insteon command coming from the Motion Sensor (easy test - bring it close to your PowerLinc, set it off (ON command), cover it with a towel and wait for an off)? You're right, that jumper would control that behavior. But it might also be a signal issue because that's a broadcast message from the sensor to the PowerLinc, though I would expect it would *sometimes* work. Insteon can be particularly bad at these types of unsolicited broadcast messages which is why we often recommend using Z-Wave sensors instead of Insteon.

Anyway, one thing to try is a factory reset of the MS. I don't recall how exactly to do that on those old motion sensors but I expect some internet searching will turn up the right procedure.


I got it working ! Not sure *why* this would be, but it seems like I had to power cycle with J5 off in order for the Motion Sensor to pay attention to the other jumpers. Anyways, I have it on a super short timeout of about 30 seconds I think! I'm running that countdown timer, and if it happens to hit zero while the MS status is "on" I add another minute to it. (timer is suspended if the occupant closes the door)

Very happy with the operation ... now to see how the battery lasts!

Re: INSTEON Motion Sensor

PostPosted: Fri Apr 03, 2020 11:31 am
by dduff617
yes, it has been a while since i did experimentation, but i seem to remember jumper values are "read' and remembered during startup. thus for jumper changes to take effect, you have to power-cycle.

Re: INSTEON Motion Sensor

PostPosted: Fri Apr 03, 2020 11:42 am
by Monstergerm
As Jay mentioned, those Insteon motion sensors are tricky. I have several of them activating outdoor lights and they are clearly my least reliable insteon devices on my network. Sometimes they create so much traffic noise that my "light on" actions are not getting executed properly, or they execute but still trigger a "device not responding" error.

Your mileage might vary but I think in your situation a hardwired occupancy sensor (e.g. Leviton Occupancy Sensor ODS10-ID) is a much more reliable solution. It turns the light automatically on, keeps them on while motion is detected and then activates a countdown timer when no more motion is detected. No need for open/close sensor.

Re: INSTEON Motion Sensor

PostPosted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 12:15 am
by gsbrewer
I've been looking at this for several days now. I, like many others have MS II and would like to turn off the LED for night time. I have a Plug-In that (among many other things) performs a test when receiving any MM ON command to check if any day/night transition has occurred since the previous ON command. In that condition, it either sends the aforementioned raw command to enable or disable the LED (disabling it at nighttime since it can bother light sleepers). By design, my raw commands get sent exactly 2 seconds after receiving the ON command (to ensure the MS is still awake) as I'm battery powered. It works. However...

There is another blink in the MS that occurs when any motion is detected while still in the ON state from the previous motion... It's like a signal indicating that it is extending the ON timer. THAT is the flashing that I think some people are seeing after issuing the RAW LED OFF command.. I haven't dug up the insteon command set to see if there is another LED OFF command for that (extending ON time) instance. I also dont have a hub to check to see if they have some work around in there. I'll post again if I find out more.

You can test this theory by sending the raw command, verify the LED no longer blinks in the normal case. Wait till the motion sensor sends the off command (watch the device list in Indigo), then wave a hand in front of the motion sensor, verify the ON from Indigo, then wait 10 seconds and wave a hand in front of the sensor again... It will blink indicating an extension to the ON state (and no change will happen to the indigo state - Its still ON).

Re: INSTEON Motion Sensor

PostPosted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 4:32 pm
by matt (support)
Great insight – thanks for sharing.

Re: INSTEON Motion Sensor

PostPosted: Mon Aug 15, 2022 6:30 am
by SearchCz
matt (support) wrote:
Try using the Execute Raw INSTEON Command with the following settings:

Command 1 Byte: 0x2E
Command 2 Byte: 0x00
Send extended messages: checked
D1 Byte: 0x00
D2 Byte: 0x06
D3 Byte: 0x20 for ON only, or 0x00 for ON and OFF
D4 Byte: 0x0F
D5 Byte: OFF timeout interval in 10 second increments (0x03 would be 30 seconds). This value is probably unused if you have D3 set to 0x20.
D6 to D14 Bytes: 0x00 (for all of them)

Let me know if that works, and wake the module first by putting into linking mode (unless you have it USB powered).


Is there a raw command like this for door open/close sensors? If I wanted the opening of a door to turn a light on, but I do not want the closing of that door to turn the light off?

Re: INSTEON Motion Sensor

PostPosted: Mon Aug 15, 2022 1:58 pm
by matt (support)
The easiest way to do it with the open/close sensor is to remove the jumper. From the manual:

Screen Shot 2022-08-15 at 2.56.29 PM.png
Screen Shot 2022-08-15 at 2.56.29 PM.png (191.39 KiB) Viewed 5644 times


Or you can use Indigo to handle the logic (trigger an action when the sensor sends the ON command), in which case you would not have the sensor directly linked to the light module.

Re: INSTEON Motion Sensor

PostPosted: Wed Aug 17, 2022 4:36 pm
by SearchCz
matt (support) wrote:
The easiest way to do it with the open/close sensor is to remove the jumper. From the manual:

Screen Shot 2022-08-15 at 2.56.29 PM.png


Or you can use Indigo to handle the logic (trigger an action when the sensor sends the ON command), in which case you would not have the sensor directly linked to the light module.

I'll look for that sensor. Want to keep it directly linked for the quick "on" that sometimes lags when I route through Indigo.